How to identify the quality of olive oil

How to tell if the so-called extra virgin olive oil you bought is really "extra virgin"? First of all, consumers must know what real extra virgin olive oil is. According to EU regulations and international olive oil standards, extra virgin olive oil must be made of fresh olive fruit without damage, moth and mildew, and it must be completed within 24 hours from picking to pressing. It must be a purely physical cold pressing process, and it must be the first pressed pure natural olive oil. At the same time, only after strict legal procedures, the natural acidity is less than or equal to 0.8%, can it be called extra virgin olive oil. At the same time, the finished product can be canned immediately or sealed in a special stainless steel oil cylinder, and then stored at constant temperature. If canned products need to be produced within two years, the acid value and related indicators must be re-tested, and the standard is extra virgin olive oil, otherwise it will be eliminated.

★ Look at the label: the label must indicate the category. Is there a Spanish word "virgen extra" or an English word "extra virgin", which means "extra virgin", representing the highest grade of olive oil? "Cold pressing" or "cold pressing" means "cold pressing", which means that olive fruit is made by pure physical pressing at low temperature, natural and pure, and its nutritional components are not destroyed. Extra virgin olive oil can be eaten raw; Ordinary virgin olive oil should not be eaten raw; Refined or blended olive oil is extracted by chemical infiltration and cannot be eaten raw; Fruit pomace is forbidden to eat in the EU, and it is only used for biofuels and cosmetics. Then judge whether olive oil is purely imported and whether it is a brand sold in the market of the country of origin. Check whether the original label and the back label of the label are marked in the national language of the country of origin, because the manufacturer must make the label in the national language before it can be sold in the domestic market. As stipulated by the laws of China, imported goods sold in China market must be labeled in Chinese, otherwise sales are prohibited.

★ Look at the origin: Does the label indicate the origin and source of olive oil? The canned place of olive oil is not a place of origin.

★ Look at the acidity: What is the range of acidity indicated on the label? According to EU regulations and international olive oil standards, the natural acidity of extra virgin olive oil is less than or equal to 0.8%, and natural nutrients are retained. The fake extra virgin olive oil can also reach this acidity standard after artificial chemical deacidification, and the lowest acidity can reach 0, and its natural nutrients are seriously destroyed.

★ Color: There are many colors of olive oil, ranging from yellow to green, which is caused by different fruit types of olive trees. The golden color or golden color of extra virgin olive oil is better. However, the natural pigments and other nutrients in refined olive oil are destroyed and the color is very light. There are also illegal manufacturers who add pigments to olive oil and deliberately confuse the concept.

★ Observation concentration: Extra virgin olive oil is bright, thick and shiny, and retains natural nutrients to the greatest extent. Oil mixed, lack of bright luster, indicating that it has been left for a long time and began to oxidize. The color is light and the oil feels very thin, indicating that it is refined oil or blended oil, and the natural nutrients are destroyed.

★ Smell: fruity. Different olive tree varieties have different flavors, such as grass flavor, licorice flavor and fruit flavor. This shows that the olive oil in your hand is completely cold pressed. If there is no smell, there must be chemical intervention to deodorize it. There are off-flavor, musty, muddy, sour, metallic and spicy flavors, indicating that the raw materials of olive fruit are deteriorated or improperly stored or have problems.

★ Taste: The taste is smooth, not greasy, slightly sweet, slightly bitter and slightly spicy. At the entrance, there is a clear feeling at the back of the throat, and the spicy taste lags behind. Because consumers are not professionals after all, they are not too sensitive to sweetness or bitterness, but they can feel the pungent taste. Olive oil above the grade of virgin olive oil will have this feeling, and the higher the grade, the more obvious it is. This is also the most effective way for consumers to identify whether olive oil is really extra virgin olive oil. However, some unscrupulous manufacturers will also mark the oil marked with virgin olive oil grade as extra virgin olive oil for sale to deceive consumers. If it smells or has no smell at all, it must be refined olive oil or fruit residue, or even the most basic virgin olive oil. In short, olive oil with fresh fruit fragrance and a balance of sweetness and bitterness is a good oil, which is also a necessary condition for truly extra virgin olive oil.

★ Look at the barcode: There are two kinds of olive oil imported from China: original packaging and sub-packaging. The original packaging means that this bottle of olive oil is produced and canned in the exporting country; Sub-packaging is the production and canning of large barrels of olive oil imported by domestic merchants in China. The barcode of olive oil produced in Spain begins with 84. If the bar code starts with 69, then its product is definitely not imported olive oil, but sub-packaged olive oil produced in China. There are also products processed or branded abroad, and the bar code of their products is also the manufacturer's own country, so it is not reliable to only check the bar code.

★ See if the CIQ mark of China Inspection and Quarantine is affixed: this can only represent that the product quality meets China's import standards. The declaration form of imported goods and the customs duty payment certificate prove that the import channels of products are legal.

★ Log on to the official website: Log on to the official websites of the producing country and the importing country, check the relevant information, the certificate of origin of the imported goods and the official certificate of the relevant exporting country, and pay attention to the contents of the certificate. Some importers import from country T, but they use the brand of country G, and some unscrupulous merchants make false propaganda and award-winning certificates in China. Generally, as long as you log in to the relevant official website of the producing country for verification, it will be self-defeating, and dealers and consumers need to distinguish carefully.

★ Buy olive oil with higher grade: you can directly choose the brand with DOP certification of the European Union. The label of this olive oil will be printed with DOP logo. Consumers can easily see that this grade of regular olive oil products are extra virgin olive oil, and DOP certification represents the highest grade of a processed agricultural product in Europe. But it is not enough to have DOP certification mark, because some unscrupulous merchants collude with each other and forge DOP certification mark. According to EU law and Spanish government regulations, DOP certified products must apply for the official serial number of the batch in advance when canning, and issue the official license certificate of the serial number of the batch. The serial number of the product is traceable, and the serial number is not repeatable. At the same time, in the process of production and filling, the serial number should be coded and the product should be completed at one time. Secondly, there must be a certification mark of the original protected area of origin legally certified by the Spanish government. The legal origin of olive cultivation in different areas is different, and the logo is also different.

Olive oil tasting steps

The poor quality of olive oil, on the one hand, is some internal physical and chemical indicators, on the other hand, it needs to be determined by the senses. Therefore, international olive oil council promulgated the sensory evaluation and analysis method of olive oil. In western countries, like wine tasters, there are professional oil tasters who taste olive oil. Senior oil tasters can even distinguish 32 different olive oil fruity flavors. Consumers had better taste olive oil themselves to judge the real quality of products. For an ordinary consumer, tasting is the most effective identification method.

Extra virgin olive oil, you can smell grass or fruit when you open a bottle, and the top extra virgin olive oil will be more obvious. Usually, an oil taster will evaluate olive oil according to the following steps.

★ Note: Do not use perfume, deodorant, soap, lipstick, smoking, eating sweets or drinking coffee 30 minutes before or during tasting. If there are many different brands of olive oil, it is best to taste 3 or 4 kinds at a time. Taste the light one first and then the strong one according to the smell.

★ Pour the olive oil to be evaluated into small glasses in turn. Pick up one cup at a time, put your palm close to the bottom of the cup, gently shake it, and slowly heat the olive oil with the temperature of your palm, so that the fragrance of the oil can be fully emitted. Meanwhile, observe the color and transparency of the oil.

★ Keep your nose as close as possible to olive oil and take a deep breath slowly for two or three times in a row. Watch the smell. If necessary, do it again in a minute.

★ There are two ways to taste olive oil, one is to pour it on salt-free white bread, and the other is to drink it directly. When drinking directly, drink 2-3 ml each time or about 10 ml directly, moisten the oil all over the oral cavity, fill the oral cavity as much as possible, inhale gently, and then swallow.

★ Open your mouth slightly, inhale continuously and quickly for two or three times, spray the oil into a mist, and let the air and oil mix and contact the tongue and palate. Spit out the oil. You can repeat it if necessary. Before repeating, rinse your mouth with water or eat an apple, then rinse your mouth and taste it. This method is suitable for professional oil tasters.

Tips: Only real extra virgin olive oil can be eaten raw, cold and dipped in bread, otherwise it can only be fried and cooked. Only real extra virgin olive oil can be used for pregnant women and babies.